Journal of Natural Environment

Investigating the situation of rural settlements in terms of key components of improving water productivity Case study: Rural of Qaleh Chai watershed in East Azerbaijan province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

The Qaleh Chai watershed as one of the watersheds of Lake Urmia has 36 rural settlements that are often active in agriculture. This area has been experiencing a reduction in available water for the past 20 years or so. Water scarcity has doubled the need to improve water productivity. The present study was conducted with the aim of forecasting water productivity in 36 rural settlements of the Qaleh Chai watershed. Data collection was in the form of a Delphi questionnaire with the participation of experts, which was analyzed with Micmac software. The number of components studied included 20 components affecting the promotion of water productivity. Data analysis led to the identification of 9 key components affecting the improvement of water productivity in the Qaleh Chai watershed. The most important key components identified are canal renewal, reducing irrigation time and increasing frequency, reducing the land area in steep areas, improving the quality of management and taking a comprehensive approach, transferring water from the source to the farm using Indoor canals, using of agricultural inputs with less water requirement, subsidies for sprinkler and drip irrigation, use of advanced equipment to reduce water consumption and improve villagers' water productivity skills respectively with scores 767, 766, 655, 654, 632, 609, 608, 541 and 496. The results of prioritizing the villages in terms of key components showed that the Harglan village, the Almalo village, and the Tutakhaneh village have the highest score (0.042, 0.045, 0.051), respectively. According to the research findings, It can be said that the realization of strategies to improve water productivity in the group is the simultaneous attention to all components and the adoption of a comprehensive approach.

Keywords

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Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 75, Issue 1
June 2022
Pages 136-149